The struggle for independence here has been conducted in equal measure by men and by women. And when we got our independence, no one forgot that. In the Western world, on the other hand, nothing of the kind has ever happened - women have participated, yes, but revolutions have always been made by men alone.

I know I'll astonish everyone by talking like this, but it's God's truth. Honors have never tempted me and I've never sought them.

I remember harrowing episodes. People who emigrated, people who didn't want to emigrate...Many Muslims didn't want to leave India to go to live in Pakistan, but the propaganda was that there they'd have greater opportunities and so they left. Many Hindus, on the other hand, didn't want to stay in Pakistan, but they had ties there or property and so they stayed.

I'm trained to difficulties; difficulties can't be eliminated from life.

When one has had a life as difficult as mine, one doesn't worry about how others will react.

I'm not interested in one label or the other - I'm only interested in solving certain problems, in getting where I want to go.

The immediate is often the enemy of the ultimate.